This is actually the third steep of last night’s leaves. It’s very very rarely that I have the patience to have the same tea that many times in a row if it’s not because it’s just going into my travel cup for the morning train journey where I don’t really pay attention to what I’m drinking anyway.

That’s how much I love this.

Third steep. Flavour still as strong as the first. And it’s turned so smoky it’s sending up smoke signals.

Really, I dare you to show me a black that’s better than this one.

Fu Jian province, China? My favourite tea producing area, hands down. I’ve also bought a small portion of the higher leaf grade of this one (and it cost a bloody fortune!), and one day when I have lots of time I’ll give it a good tasting and see how it holds up to this one. Even in the unlikely event that it’s even better than this, it’s too expenisve to be a one I’d buy in portions as big as this one.

Those who are still searching for something to replace the now unavailable Dawn from Simple Leaf, may I humbly suggest giving Tan Yang a go? I thought it was similar, only this is better. If you don’t care much for the smoky aspect, use a little less leaf (and don’t steep twice).

TeaSpring is a good place to start. They’re specialised in chinese and all their teas have a lot of info, including where it comes from and when it was harvested. I bought another Fujian black from them that I haven’t tried before. I chose it only based on how much I like other Fujian teas, but I haven’t tried it yet. :)

TeaSpring is a good place to start. They’re specialised in chinese and all their teas have a lot of info, including where it comes from and when it was harvested. I bought another Fujian black from them that I haven’t tried before. I chose it only based on how much I like other Fujian teas, but I haven’t tried it yet. :)

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Bio

Ang lives with Husband and two kitties, Charm and Luna, in a house not too far from Århus. Apart from drinking tea, she enjoys baking, especially biscuits, reading and jigsaw puzzles. She has recently acquired an interest in cross-stitch and started a rather large project. It remains to be seen whether she has actually bitten off more than she can chew…

Ang prefers black teas and the darker sorts of oolongs. She has to be in the mood for green and white, and she enjoys, but knows little to nothing about, pu-erh.

Her preferences with black teas are the Chinese ones, particularly from Fujian, but also Keemun and just about anything smoky. She occasionally enjoys Yunnans but they’re not favourites. She has taken some time to research Ceylon teas, complete with reference map, and has recently developed some interest in teas from Africa.

She is sceptical about Indian blacks as she generally finds them too astringent and too easy to get wrong. She doesn’t really care for Darjeelings at all. Very high-grown teas are often not favoured.

She likes flavoured teas as well, particularly fruit flavoured ones, but also had an obsession with finding the Perfect Vanilla Flavoured Black and can happily report that this reclusive beast has been spotted in a local teashop near where she works. Any and all vanilla flavoured teas are still highly attractive to her, though. Also nuts and caramel or toffee. Not so much chocolate. It’s a texture thing.

However, she thinks Earl Grey is generally kind of boring. Cinnamon and ginger are also not really a hit, and she’s not very fond of chais. Evil hibiscus is evil. Even in small amounts, and yes, Ang can usually detect hibiscus, mostly by way of the metallic flavour of blood it has.

Ang is not super impressed with rooibos or honeybush on their own. She doesn’t care for either, really, but when they are flavoured, they go usually go down a treat.

Ang used to have a Standard Panel of teas that she tried to always have on hand. She put a lot of thought into defining it and decided what should go on it. It was a great idea on paper, but in practise has been discovered to not really work as well.

Ang tries her best to make a post on Steepster several times a week. She tends to write her posts in advance in a word doc (The Queue) and posting from there. This, she feels, helps her to maintain regularity and stops her from making five posts in three days and then going three weeks without posting anything at all.

Angrboda is almost always open to swapping. Just ask her. Due to the nature of the queue, however, and the fact that it’s some 24 pages long at the moment, it may take a good while from she receives your parcel and until she actually posts about it.

Find Ang on…
Steam: Iarnvidia (Or Angrboda. She changed her display name and now is not certain which one to search for. She uses the same picture though, so she is easily recognised)
Goodreads: Angrboda
Livejournal: See website.
Dreamwidth: Ask her